I’m doing something a little different for my Friday Five this week. Literally all the blogs are filled with “best of” and “top 10” lists of the year, and because I’m such a TV nerd, I’m going to add one more to the fray. There’s only so much TV a girl can watch in this era of Peak TV so I’ve definitely missed out on some great shows, but here’s a list of my five favorite TV shows in 2016. Spoilers ahead….Continue Reading…
My December Birchbox arrived the other day, and the very pretty box is designed to look like a subtly shiny holiday gift:
1. Ninja Coffee Bar Single-Serve System: this was an early Hanukkah gift from my mom. I’d been thinking about getting one of these coffee bar thingies and had looked a little bit at Nespresso machines. Then over Thanksgiving I saw an ad (starring Sofia Vergara…seriously, what won’t she do ads for?) for this gadget and it looked pretty awesome. On Cyber Monday, Target’s website had it on sale, so I alerted my mom and my gift arrived a few days later. And I LOVE IT. I now make my own Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Flat Whites, and Cappuccinos, as well as tasty regular coffee, right in my own kitchen. It’s fairly compact and easy to use, and I really appreciate that it uses a regular basket filter instead of pods.
1. Westworld: I know I’ve included this show in a previous Friday Five, but I was so into it that now that season one has ended I have to mention it again. The show certainly isn’t perfect, but I felt utterly transported every time I watched it and I can’t wait to see what season two has in store for us…in 2018 (AGH! So far away!)
Today is the 15th anniversary of my move to New York City (!!!), so in honor of my anniversary, I’m going to list five things that characterized my early time here in the city.
1. DTUT: when I first moved here, my boyfriend (at the time) and I stayed with his brother on the Upper East Side, at E. 83rd Street and 1st Avenue. It took a few months for me to find a job, so in the meantime I spent A LOT of time hanging out at a nearby coffeeshop, DTUT. Back then the place was located on 2nd Avenue near E. 84th Street (it’s since moved a few blocks north). The place was very cozy and filled with lots of lounge chairs and couches. I’d go in the morning and get either a bagel and cream cheese or a quiche, and of course coffee. Then I’d spend about three hours sitting there reading, writing in my journal, reading the newspaper, and doing crossword puzzles. Mind you, this was in 2001 and 2002 and I didn’t have a smartphone to entertain myself with (though I think I had a laptop then…I honestly can’t even remember). I have such fond memories of all the analog time I spent there.
Happy December! On this first day of the month in which the holiday season really kicks in, I’m excited to announce that I have opened a handmade soy candle shop on Etsy called Zoe Walter Candles! Where did the shop name come from? Well, I pretty much pulled a Brick Tamland “I Love Lamp” by looking around and deciding to use the names of our two cats, Zoe and Walter. 🙂
The annual 20% off sale for Sephora VIB members is one of the best online sales ever! This beauty geek gets so excited each time one of these sales rolls around. Sephora doesn’t generally hold sitewide sales for the general public, so these few-and-far-between Beauty Insider discounts are a great opportunity to stock up on beauty goodies while you can.
I didn’t spend a whole lot on the 15% off VIB sale this past spring, but this time around I was ready and waiting to give Sephora my money. Because the sale runs for a few days and they allow you to place multiple orders, I actually took advantage of the sale twice…so I got quite a haul compared to my last one. 🙂
Greetings from St. Louis! This week’s Friday Five is all about our lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house yesterday.
1. Beautiful Centerpiece: my mom picked out this colorful, cheery centerpiece for the dinner table.
1. Secret Wood: my husband recently surprised me with a VERY cool handmade ring from this Vancouver company. This particular design is called Enchanted Forest, and I love it! It really does look like there’s a tiny forest inside the ring, with snow on the ground and sparkly, starry skies.
My November 2016 Birchbox arrived last Saturday—the same day that I received my latest Stitch Fix—so it almost felt like my birthday! I badly needed a pick-me-up after the election results, but it’s taken me a while to muster up the motivation to write about my new samples.
I absolutely love the November 2016 Birchbox design; I’m such a sucker for dainty floral and botanical patterns!
